Manchester United is one of the wealthiest and most widely supported football teams in the world.[6][7][8][9] As of July 2011, the club is number one in Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s 50 most valuable sports teams, valued at $1.86 billion.[10] After being floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club was purchased by Malcolm Glazer in May 2005 in a deal valuing the club at almost £800 million.[11]

Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath.[12] The team initially played games against other departments and rail companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorded match; wearing the colours of the railway company – green and gold – they were defeated 6–0 by Bolton Wanderers‘ reserve team.[13] By 1888, the club had become a founding member of The Combination, a regional football league. Following the league’s dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Football League. This resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the “LYR” from its name.[12] After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division.[12]

The Manchester United team at the start of the 1905–06 season, in which they were runners-up in the Second Division

In January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £210,000 as of 2011[nb 1] – the club was served with a winding-up order.[14] Captain Harry Stafford found four local businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club president), each willing to invest £500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subsequently changed the name;[15] on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officially born.[16][nb 2] Under Ernest Mangnall, who assumed managerial duties in 1903, the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to the First Division, which they won in 1908 – the club’s first league title. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield[17] and ended with the club’s first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City.[18]

In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until regaining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Following the death of the club’s principal benefactor, J. H. Davies, in October 1927, the club’s finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester United would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000 and assumed control of the club.[19] In the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division.[19]

Busby years (1945–1969)

In October 1945, the impending resumption of football led to the managerial appointment of Matt Busby, who demanded an unprecedented level of control over team selection, player transfers and training sessions.[20] Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947, 1948 and 1949, and to FA Cup victory in 1948. In 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years.[21] With an average age of 22, the media labelled the back-to-back title winning side of 1956 “the Busby Babes”, a testament to Busby’s faith in his youth players.[22] In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season.[23] En route to the semi-final, which they lost to Real Madrid, the team recorded a 10–0 victory over Belgian champions Anderlecht, which remains the club’s biggest victory on record.[24]

A plaque at Old Trafford in memory of those who died in the Munich air disaster, including players names

Reserve team manager Jimmy Murphy took over as manager while Busby recovered from his injuries and the club’s makeshift side reached the FA Cup final, which they lost to Bolton Wanderers. In recognition of the team’s tragedy, UEFA invited the club to compete in the 1958–59 European Cup alongside eventual League champions Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite approval from the FA, the Football League determined that the club should not enter the competition, since it had not qualified.[27][28] Busby rebuilt the team through the 1960s by signing players such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand, who combined with the next generation of youth players – including George Best – to win the FA Cup in 1963. The following season, they finished second in the league, then won the title in 1965 and 1967. In 1968, Manchester United became the first English (and second British) club to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1 in the final[29] with a team that contained three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best.[30] Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve team coach, former Manchester United player Wilf McGuinness.[31]

1969–1986

Bryan Robson was the captain of Manchester United for 12 years, longer than any other player.[32]

Following an eighth-place finish in the 1969–70 season and a poor start to the 1970–71 season, Busby was persuaded to temporarily resume managerial duties, and McGuinness returned to his position as reserve team coach. In June 1971, Frank O’Farrell was appointed as manager, but lasted less than 18 months before being replaced by Tommy Docherty in December 1972.[33] Docherty saved Manchester United from relegation that season, only to see them relegated in 1974; by that time the trio of Best, Law, and Charlton had left the club.[29] The team won promotion at the first attempt and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2–1. Docherty was dismissed shortly afterwards, following the revelation of his affair with the club physiotherapist’s wife.[31][34]

Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977. Despite major signings, including Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Gary Bailey, and Ray Wilkins, the team failed to achieve any significant results; they finished in the top two in 1979–80 and lost to Arsenal in the 1979 FA Cup Final. Sexton was dismissed in 1981, even though the team won the last seven games under his direction.[35] He was replaced by Ron Atkinson, who immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion. Under Atkinson, Manchester United won the FA Cup twice in three years – in 1983 and 1985. In 1985–86, after 13 wins and two draws in its first 15 matches, the club was favourite to win the league, but finished in fourth place. The following season, with the club in danger of relegation by November, Atkinson was dismissed.[36]

Ferguson years (1986–present)

Alex Ferguson has been manager of Manchester United since November 1986.

Alex Ferguson and his assistant Archie Knox arrived from Aberdeen on the day of Atkinson’s dismissal,[37] and guided the club to an 11th-place finish in the league.[38] Despite a second-place finish in 1987–88, the club was back in 11th place the following season.[39] Reportedly on the verge of being dismissed, victory over Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final replay (after a 3–3 draw) saved Ferguson’s career.[40][41] The following season, Manchester United claimed its first Cup Winners’ Cup title and competed in the 1991 UEFA Super Cup, beating European Cup holders Red Star Belgrade 1–0 in the final at Old Trafford. A second consecutive League Cup final appearance followed in 1992, in which the team beat Nottingham Forest 1–0 at Wembley.[36] In 1993, the club won its first league title since 1967, and a year later, for the first time since 1957, it won a second consecutive title – alongside the FA Cup – to complete the first “Double” in the club’s history.[36]

Ryan Giggs is the most decorated player in English football history.[42]

After finishing as runner-up to Chelsea in the 2009–10 season, United achieved a record 19th league title in 2010–11, securing the championship with a 1–1 away draw against Blackburn Rovers on 14 May 2011.[53]

Crest and colours

Manchester United badge in the 1960s

The club crest is derived from the Manchester City Council coat of arms, although all that remains of it on the current crest is the ship in full sail.[54] The devil stems from the club’s nickname “The Red Devils”; it was included on club programmes and scarves in the 1960s, and incorporated into the club crest in 1970, although the crest was not included on the chest of the shirt until 1971 (unless the team was playing in a Cup Final).[54]

A photograph of the Newton Heath team, taken in 1892, is believed to show the players wearing a red-and-white quartered jerseys and blue shorts.[55] Between 1894–96, the players wore distinctive green and gold jerseys[55] which were replaced in 1896 by white shirts, which were worn with blue shorts.[55] After its name change in 1902, the club colours were changed to red shirts, white shorts, and black socks, which has become the standard Manchester United home kit.[55] Very few changes were made to the kit until 1922 when the club adopted white shirts bearing a deep red “V” around the neck, similar to the shirt worn in the 1909 FA Cup Final. They would remain part of their home kits until 1927.[55] In 1934, players sported cherry and white hooped shirts, but the following season the red shirt was recalled after the club’s lowest ever league placing of 20th in the Second Division.[55] The black socks were changed to white from 1959 to 1965, where they were replaced with red socks up until 1971, when the club reverted to black. The current home kit is a red shirt with a white and black crew neck collar, worn with white shorts and black socks.[56]

The Manchester United away strip has more often than not been a white shirt, black shorts and white socks, but there have been several exceptions. These include the navy blue shirt with silver horizontal pinstripes worn during the 1999–2000 season,[57] and the current away kit, which has a royal blue body and sleeves with hoops made of small midnight navy blue and black stripes, with black shorts and blue socks.[58] An all-grey away kit worn during the 1995–96 season was dropped after just two games because players claimed to have trouble finding their team-mates against the crowd.[59] In 2001, to celebrate 100 years as “Manchester United”, a reversible white/gold away kit was released, although the actual match day shirts were not reversible.[60]

The club’s third kit is often all-blue, this was most recently the case during the 2008–09 season, to celebrate 40 years since it was worn for the club’s first European Cup win in 1968.[61] Exceptions include blue-and-white striped shirts worn during the 1994–96 season, an all black kit worn during the Treble winning season, and white shirts with black-and-red horizontal pinstripes worn between 2003–05.[62]

Newton Heath initially played on a field on North Road, close to the railway yard; the original capacity was about 12,000, but club officials deemed the facilities inadequate for a club hoping to join The Football League.[63] Some expansion took place in 1887, and in 1891 Newton Heath used its minimal financial reserves to purchase two grandstands, each able to hold 1,000 spectators.[64] Although attendances were not recorded for many of the earliest matches at North Road, the highest documented attendance was approximately 15,000 for a First Division match against Sunderland on 4 March 1893.[65] A similar attendance was also recorded for a friendly match against Gorton Villa on 5 September 1889.[66]

In June 1893, after the club was evicted from North Road by its owners, Manchester Deans and Canons, who felt it was inappropriate for the club to charge an entry fee to the ground, secretary A. H. Albut procured the use of the Bank Street ground in Clayton.[67] It initially had no stands, by the start of the 1893–94 season, two had been built; one spanning the full length of the pitch on one side and the other behind the goal at the “Bradford end”. At the opposite end, the “Clayton end”, the ground had been “built up, thousands thus being provided for”.[67] Newton Heath’s first league match at Bank Street was played against Burnley on 1 September 1893, when 10,000 people saw Alf Farman score a hat-trick, Newton Heath’s only goals in a 3–2 win. The remaining stands were completed for the following league game against Nottingham Forest three weeks later.[67] In October 1895, before the visit of Manchester City, the club purchased a 2,000-capacity stand from the Broughton Rangersrugby league club, and put up another stand on the “reserved side” (as distinct from the “popular side”). However, weather restricted the attendance for the Manchester City match to just 12,000.[68]

When the Bank Street ground was temporarily closed by bailiffs in 1902, club captain Harry Stafford raised enough money to pay for the club’s next away game at Bristol City and found a temporary ground at Harpurhey for the next reserves game against Padiham.[69] Following financial investment, new club president J.H. Davies paid £500 for the erection of a new 1,000-seat stand at Bank Street.[70] Within four years, the stadium had cover on all four sides, as well as the ability to hold approximately 50,000 spectators, some of whom could watch from the viewing gallery atop the Main Stand.[70]

However, following Manchester United’s first league title in 1908 and the FA Cup a year later, it was decided that Bank Street was too restrictive for Davies’ ambition;[70] in February 1909, six weeks before the club’s first FA Cup title, Old Trafford was named as the home of Manchester United, following the purchase of land for around £60,000. Architect Archibald Leitch was given a budget of £30,000 for construction; original plans called for seating capacity of 100,000, though budget constraints forced a revision to 77,000. The building was constructed by Messrs Brameld and Smith of Manchester. The stadium’s record attendance was registered on 25 March 1939, when an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Grimsby Town drew 76,962 spectators.[71]

Bombing in the Second World War destroyed much of the stadium; the central tunnel in the South Stand was all that remained of that quarter. After the war, the club received compensation from the War Damage Commission in the amount of £22,278. While reconstruction took place, the team played its “home” games at Manchester City’s Maine Road ground; Manchester United was charged £5,000 per year, plus a nominal percentage of gate receipts.[72] Later improvements included the addition of roofs, first to the Stretford End and then to the North and East Stands. The roofs were supported by pillars that obstructed many fans’ views, and they were eventually replaced with a cantilevered structure. The Stretford End was the last stand to receive a cantilevered roof, completed in time for the 1993–94 season.[31] First used on 25 March 1957 and costing £40,000, four 180-foot (55 m) pylons were erected, each housing 54 individual floodlights. These were dismantled in 1987 and replaced by a lighting system embedded in the roof of each stand, which remains in use today.[73]

The Taylor Report‘s requirement for an all-seater stadium lowered capacity at Old Trafford to around 44,000 by 1993. In 1995, the North Stand was redeveloped into three tiers, restoring capacity to approximately 55,000. At the end of the 1998–99 season, second tiers were added to the East and West Stands, raising capacity to around 67,000, and between July 2005 and May 2006, 8,000 more seats were added via second tiers in the north-west and north-east quadrants. Part of the new seating was used for the first time on 26 March 2006, when an attendance of 69,070 became a new Premier League record.[74] The record was pushed steadily upwards before reaching its peak on 31 March 2007, when 76,098 spectators saw Manchester United beat Blackburn Rovers 4–1, with just 114 seats (0.15 percent of the total capacity of 76,212) unoccupied.[75] In 2009, reorganisation of the seating resulted in a reduction of capacity by 255 to 75,957.[76][77] Manchester United has the third highest average attendance of European football clubs only behind FC Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund.

Support

Manchester United is reputed to be the most popular football club in the world, with the highest average home attendance in Europe.[78] The club’s worldwide fan base includes more than 200 officially recognised branches of the Manchester United Supporters Club (MUSC), in at least 24 countries.[79] The club takes advantage of this support through its worldwide summer tours. Accountancy firm and sports industry consultants Deloitte estimate that Manchester United has 75 million fans worldwide,[7] while other estimates put this figure closer to 333 million.[8]

Global brand

Manchester United has been described as a global brand; a 2011 report by Brand Finance, valued the club’s trademarks and associated intellectual property at £412 million – an increase of £39 million on the previous year, valuing it at £11 million more than the second best brand, Real Madrid – and gave the brand a strength rating of AAA (Extremely Strong).[86] In 2011, Manchester United was ranked first by Forbes magazine in its list of the ten most valuable sports team brands, valuing the Manchester United brand at $1.86 billion.[10] The club is currently ranked third in the Deloitte Football Money League (behind Real Madrid and Barcelona).[87]

The core strength of Manchester United’s global brand is often attributed to Matt Busby’s rebuilding of the team and subsequent success following the Munich air disaster, which drew worldwide acclaim.[81] The “iconic” team included Bobby Charlton and Nobby Stiles (members of England’s World Cup winning team), Denis Law and George Best. The attacking style of play adopted by this team (in contrast to the defensive-minded “catenaccio” approach favoured by the leading Italian teams of the era) “captured the imagination of the English footballing public”.[88] Busby’s team also became associated with the liberalisation of Western society during the 1960s; George Best, known as the “fifth Beatle” for his iconic haircut, was the first footballer to significantly develop an off-the-field media profile.[88]

Because higher league placement results in a greater share of television rights, success on the field generates greater income for the club. Since the inception of the Premier League, Manchester United has received the largest share of the revenue generated from the BSkyB broadcasting deal.[89] Manchester United has also consistently enjoyed the highest commercial income of any English club; in 2005–06, the club’s commercial arm generated £51 million, compared to £42.5 million at Chelsea, £39.3 million at Liverpool, £34 million at Arsenal and £27.9 million at Newcastle United. A key sponsorship relationship is with sportswear company Nike, who manage the club’s merchandising operation as part of a £303 million 13-year partnership established in 2002.[90] Through Manchester United Finance and the club’s membership scheme, One United, those with an affinity for the club can purchase a range of branded goods and services. Additionally, Manchester United-branded media services – such as the club’s dedicated television channel, MUTV – have allowed the club to expand its fan base to those beyond the reach of its Old Trafford stadium.[7]

Listings on stock exchanges

As the first English football club to float on the London Stock Exchange in 1991, the club raised significant capital, with which it further developed its commercial strategy. The club’s focus on commercial and sporting success brought significant profits in an industry often characterised by chronic losses.[91] The strength of the Manchester United brand was bolstered by intense off-the-field media attention to individual players, most notably David Beckham (who quickly developed his own global brand). This attention often generates greater interest in on-the-field activities, and hence generates sponsorship opportunities – the value of which is driven by television exposure.[92] During his time with the club, Beckham’s popularity across Asia was integral to the club’s commercial success in that part of the world.[93]

Sponsorship

In an initial five-year deal worth £500,000, Sharp Electronics became the club’s first shirt sponsor at the beginning of the 1982–83 season, a relationship that lasted until the end of the 1999–2000 season, when Vodafone agreed a four-year, £30 million deal.[95] Vodafone agreed to pay £36 million to extend the deal by four years, but after two seasons triggered a break clause in order to concentrate on its sponsorship of the Champions League.[95]

To commence at the start of the 2006–07 season, American insurance corporation AIG agreed a four-year £56.5 million deal which in September 2006 became the most valuable in the world.[96][97] At the beginning of the 2010–11 season, American reinsurance company Aon became the club’s principal sponsor in a four-year deal reputed to be worth approximately £80 million, making it the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal in football history.[98] Manchester United announced their first training kit sponsor in August 2011, agreeing a four-year deal with DHL reported to be worth £40 million; it is believed to be the first instance of training kit sponsorship in English football.[99][100]

The club’s first kit manufacturer was Umbro, until a five-year deal was agreed with Admiral Sportswear in 1975.[101]Adidas received the contract in 1980,[102] before Umbro started a second spell in 1992.[103] Umbro’s sponsorship lasted for ten years, followed by Nike‘s record-breaking £302.9 million deal that will last until 2015; 3.8 million replica shirts were sold in the first 22 months with the company.[104][105] In addition to Nike and Aon, the club also has several lower-level “platinum” sponsors, including Audi and Budweiser.[106]

Ownership and finances

Originally funded by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company, the club became a limited company in 1892 and sold shares to local supporters for £1 via an application form.[15] In 1902, majority ownership passed to the four local businessmen who invested £500 to save the club from bankruptcy, including future club president J.H Davies.[15] After his death in 1927, the club faced bankruptcy yet again, but was saved in December 1931 by James W. Gibson, who assumed control of the club after investing £2,000.[19] Gibson promoted his son, Alan, to the board in 1948,[107] but died three years later; the Gibson family retained ownership of the club,[108] but the position of chairman passed to former player Harold Hardman.[109]

Promoted to the board a few days after the Munich air disaster, Louis Edwards, a friend of Matt Busby, began acquiring shares in the club; for an investment of approximately £40,000, he accumulated a 54 percent shareholding and took control in January 1964.[110] When Lillian Gibson died in January 1971, her shares passed to Alan Gibson who sold a percentage of his shares to Louis Edwards’ son, Martin in 1978; Martin Edwards went on to become chairman upon his father’s death in 1980.[111] Media tycoon Robert Maxwell attempted to buy the club in 1984, but did not meet Edwards’ asking price.[111] In 1989, chairman Martin Edwards attempted to sell the club to Michael Knighton for £20 million, but the sale fell through and Knighton joined the Board of Directors instead.[111]

Manchester United was floated on the stock market in June 1991 (raising £6.7 million),[112] and received yet another takeover bid in 1998, this time from Rupert Murdoch‘s British Sky Broadcasting Corporation. This resulted in the formation of Shareholders United Against Murdoch – now the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust – who encouraged supporters to buy shares in the club in an attempt to block any hostile takeover. The Manchester United board accepted a £623 million offer,[113] but the takeover was blocked by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission at the final hurdle in April 1999.[114] A few years later, a power struggle emerged between the club’s manager, Alex Ferguson, and his horse-racing partners, John Magnier and J. P. McManus, who had gradually become the majority shareholders. In a dispute that stemmed from contested ownership of the horse Rock of Gibraltar, Magnier and McManus attempted to have Ferguson removed from his position as manager, and the board responded by approaching investors to attempt to reduce the Irishmen’s majority.[115]

In May 2005, Malcolm Glazer purchased the 28.7 percent stake held by McManus and Magnier, thus acquiring a controlling interest through his investment vehicle Red Football Ltd in a highly leveraged takeover valuing the club at approximately £800 million (then approx. $1.5 billion).[116][117] In July 2006, the club announced a £660 million debt refinancing package, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in annual interest payments to £62 million a year.[118][119] In January 2010, with debts of £716.5 million ($1.17 billion),[120] Manchester United further refinanced through a bond issue worth £504 million, enabling them to pay off most of the £509 million owed to international banks.[121] The annual interest payable on the bonds – which mature on 1 February 2017 – is approximately £45 million per annum.[122] Despite restructuring, the club’s debt prompted protests from fans on 23 January 2010, at Old Trafford and the club’s Trafford Training Centre.[123][124] Supporter groups encouraged match-going fans to wear green and gold, the colours of Newton Heath. On 30 January, reports emerged that the Manchester United Supporters’ Trust had held meetings with a group of wealthy fans, dubbed the “Red Knights”, with plans to buying out the Glazers’ controlling interest.[125]

The club currently holds the record for most top-division titles (19), the most FA Cups (11), and the most FA Cup Final appearances (18).[150] Manchester United holds the record for the most Premier League titles (12), and was the first English team to win the European Cup in 1968. The club’s most recent trophy came in August 2011 with the 2011 FA Community Shield title.

Tekken 6 features bigger stages with more interactivity than its predecessors,[5] such as walls or floors that can be broken to reveal new fighting areas.[6] The character customization feature has been enhanced, and certain items have implications in some aspects of gameplay.[5]

A new “rage” system has been added, giving characters more damage per hit when their vitality is below a certain point. Once activated, a reddish energy aura appears around the character, and their health bar starts to flicker in red. The rage aura can be customized with different colors and effects to appear like fire, electricity, ice, among others.[7] Another gameplay feature added is the “bound” system. Every character has several moves that, when used on an opponent that is currently midair in a juggle combo, will cause the opponent to be smashed hard into the ground, bouncing them off the floor in a stunned state and leaving them vulnerable to another combo or additional attack. As of the Bloodline Rebellion update, successfully parrying a low attack will also put a character into a bound state.

The console versions (excluding the PSP version) also include an extra mode entitled “Scenario Campaign” which bears similarities with the “Tekken Force” and “Devil Within” modes from previous installments. In this mode, the player can move freely in an environment similar to that of a third-person role-playing game. Players can also pick up weapons such as poles and gatling guns, along with lootable items, money, and power-ups which can be found inside crates that are scattered all throughout the playing environment. Players can move freely between fights, but when a group of enemies are encountered, the gameplay switches to the traditional, two-dimensional Tekken style. This mode originally only had single player offline. Namco released a patch on January 18, 2010 that allows online Co-op mode for Scenario Campaign.

Both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game include an online versus multiplayer mode over PlayStation Network and Xbox Live respectively.[8] It includes Ranked Matches mode, where the player can promote their character to a higher ranking, and Player Matches mode, where the player’s fights aren’t ranked and they can invite friends to have matches with them.

The game uses a proprietary graphics engine running at 60 frames per second as well as a dynamic physics engine named Octave Engine which allows water to behave accordingly to how characters move.[9][10] The graphics engine has been designed with focus on character-animation to make movements look more smooth and realistic which led to many animations being remade to either reflect the impact and damage caused or to create new possibilities in gameplay.[11] The developers considered animation specifically important for a fighting game and wanted to make the game “look good in motion” whereas previous installments had been designed to “look good on still-shots”.

Following his victory in the previous tournament, Jin Kazama, the King of Iron Fist, has taken charge of the Mishima Zaibatsu and now appears to possess tyrannical ambitions. Using his resources within the organization to become a global superpower, he severs the Mishima Zaibatsu’s national ties and openly declares war against all nations. This action plunges the world into an extremely chaotic spiral, with a huge-scale civil war erupting around the globe and even amidst the space colonies orbiting the planet. His biological father, Kazuya Mishima, is aware of this and finds Jin’s interference in his own plans for global domination to be a nuisance. Now in charge of G Corporation, having usurped the company following its previous leaders’ failure to use and then dispose of him, Kazuya is seen as the only force who could oppose Jin and places a bounty on Jin’s head for anyone who can capture him. Jin’s response is to announce The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 in order to battle Kazuya and crush G Corporation.

Meanwhile, among the ranks of the Tekken Force, a young soldier named Lars Alexandersson has begun a rebellion to slowly dismantle the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation in order to put an end to the war. During an operation, Lars stumbles across a young girl android identifying her as Alisa Bosconovitch. G Corporation forces soon attack, starting a fight and causing an explosion that kills almost everyone present at the scene and leaves Lars with amnesia. Lars escapes with Alisa and the two begin a journey to discover their origins, meeting and fighting several previous Tekken characters. Jin, along with his top subordinates, Nina and Eddy, learns this and issues a manhunt for Lars.

During the journey, Lars reunites with his lieutenant, Tougou, and the two keep in touch. Gradually, Lars begins to recover from his amnesia and remembers that he is the illegitimate son of Heihachi Mishima, now living in solitude but still plotting to retake the Zaibatsu from Jin. Lars locates and confronts Heihachi, prepared to kill him, but relents at the last minute and leaves, turning down Heihachi’s proposal that they work together to defeat Jin. Lars eventually comes into contact with Lee Chaolan, who serves as an aid and contact for Lars after Lars rescues Lee’s friend, Julia Chang, from a G Corporation facility. At the same time, Kazuya hears of Lars’s exploits and sends his men to kill him.

Lars and Alisa’s journey eventually leads them to G Corporation, where they are confronted by a squadron of armed soldiers. Tougou and his men arrive to provide back-up for Lars while Lars and Alisa confront and defeat Anna. Once they encounter Kazuya, they engage him in combat but are ultimately defeated by and fail to apprehend him; resulting in his escape. Afterward, Lars and Alisa manage to escape, but Tougou is killed in battle, and Lars vows to avenge him. They then hijack a Zaibatsu subway train to get to the Mishima Zaibatsu’s Central Tower, although they are ambushed along the way by Nina and a squadron of Tekken Forces. Despite the odds, Lars defeats the soldiers and kicks Nina off the train.

Nina later reappears having survived the fall but is again defeated by Lars. Lars and Alisa reach the tower and confront Jin and fight him which comes to no conclusion. In a plot twist, Jin reboots Alisa’s memory bank and sets her on Lars, revealing that she was built the whole time to protect him and that he has been using her to monitor Lars’s actions, although the G Corporation attack was not part of Jin’s plan. Lars fights and manages to defeat Alisa, who flees the scene. Raven suddenly arrives, having been tailing Lars and Alisa throughout their journey, and offers help, as he saw Jin heading for the desert. Lars accepts.

Lars and Raven locate an abandoned temple in the middle of the desert, said to be the home of the demon known as Azazel, or the Rectifier. Inside the temple, Lars and Raven find and confront Kazuya once again, Kazuya learning, to his disgust, that Lars is his half-brother. After the fight, Kazuya leaves the temple with Anna. Lars and Raven reach the heart of the temple and locate Azazel. During the fight, Azazel tells Lars that he is merely a creation of man, and that it is time for him to destroy humanity to make them atone for their sins, but as he is too injured to continue fighting, Azazel apparently self-destructs. Lars and Raven flee the temple as it collapses.

Once outside, they are confronted by Jin once again, who sets Alisa on them. Lars and Raven defeat Alisa, who reverts to her old self and shares a brief, tearful reunion with Lars before expiring. Jin insults Alisa, enraging Lars and starting another fight. It is then that Jin finally reveals his intentions: having known about Azazel for a long time since Zafina’s story, Jin knew that the only way to awaken Azazel was to fill the world with negative emotions, and the best way was starting a war. Jin also tells Lars that he never appreciated how the people of the world had to live under the oppressive rule of governments and greedy corporations, and by starting the war, those powers would crumble into nothing, and the world would finally see freedom and peace. Azazel is not yet dead, and can only be destroyed by someone who carries the Gene. Once the beast was defeated, Jin could kill his own inner demons by freeing himself from Gene. Indeed, Azazel, now much stronger, suddenly erupts from the rubble, but Jin, powering himself up with the Devil Gene, approaches Azazel, immune to his attacks, and punches his fist straight through the beast’s chest, sending the both of them plummeting to their apparent deaths. Nina appears and shares a brief conversation with Lars, declaring that she cannot be the judge of whether Jin’s actions were right or wrong. Lars and Raven take Alisa’s body to Lee, who promises to repair her as soon as possible. Lars bids farewell to Raven. Lars then receives a call offering him a new job. The phone conversation is left a mystery to the player.

A post-credits scene shows that Raven and his colleagues have found Jin’s half-buried body in the desert. Whether he is dead or alive is left ambiguous, although the latter is more likely the Tattoo is still visible on Jin’s arm, indicating that Azazel’s demise has apparently not freed Jin from the Devil Gene.

Tekken developer and Executive Producer of Tekken 6 Katsuhiro Harada said, “The number of playable characters will be bigger than Tekken 5 and be the largest roster in the series. I’ve been on the Tekken series for over 10 years, and one thing we have particularly focused on after Tekken 3 is making sure each character is unique and doesn’t overlap with other characters. They all are unique not only in their appearance but their personality and techniques as well.”[13]

Harada has stated that console editions of Tekken 6 will boast the greatest number of characters ever seen in a Tekken game, including virtually all of the characters from Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection and all of the new characters from both arcade versions of Tekken 6. Players are able to customize characters and take any non-customized or customized character online.

Eight new characters are introduced in this game. The first character, Zafina, is a Middle Eastern female who enters the tournament to prevent the clash of the “two evil stars”.[5] The second character, Leo, is a German fighter who is intended to be a character which can be played by beginners and experienced players alike. The death of Leo’s mother, presumably at the hands of Kazuya Mishima prompts Leo to begin investigating the Mishima Zaibatsu.[5] The third character, Miguel Caballero Rojo, is a Spanish matador with a passion for fighting, but no real discipline. Miguel wants to exact revenge upon the death of his sister at her wedding. The fourth character, Bob, is an American who was known as a martial arts genius. Due to being unable to defeat larger opponents however, he disappeared from the fighting world, determined to increase his weight and power while still maintaining speed. Bob enters The King of Iron Fist Tournament 6 to test his new skills and size. The fifth character, NANCY-MI847J, is the bonus boss of the game. NANCY is a giant robotic creation of Mishima Zaibatsu that is similar to the Jack robots. The sixth character, Azazel, is the final boss of the game. Azazel’s story is said to be related to Zafina and Julia Chang’s story in Tekken 6 and the confrontation between Jin Kazama and Kazuya Mishima (presumably the ‘two evil stars’ from Zafina’s story). In Bloodline Rebellion and the console version, the seventh character is Alisa Bosconovitch, a cyborg with jet wings and spinning limbs who may be the cybernetically-enhanced daughter of Dr. Bosconovitch, and can also use her own arms and head as weapons, she was created to serve Jin Kazama. The eighth character is Lars Alexandersson, an unknown descendant of Heihachi Mishima, presumably an illegitimate son.[14]

Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion is the update to Tekken 6. It features new characters, stages, items and customization options. It also gives the game a balance update from characters and items. It was released to Japanese arcades on December 18, 2008 and the console version of Tekken 6 is based on this arcade version.

This new version features two new characters: Alisa Bosconovitch, a cyborg with jet wings and spinning limbs who was built in the image of Dr. Bosconovitch‘s deceased daughter, and Lars Alexandersson, an unknown descendant of Heihachi Mishima and leader of a rebellious Tekken Force faction fighting Jin’s tyranny.[14] A number of new items and customization options are featured in this expansion.[15] The game also features all-new CG character art, just as there was a change in art from Tekken 5 to Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection. Upgrade kits are also available for owners of current Tekken 6 machines.

On October 23, 2009, Namco Bandai released a Tekken 6 themed game space in the North American version of the PlayStation 3’s online community-based service, PlayStation Home.[16] The space is called “Mishima Zaibatsu – Recreation Floor” and features the “Dumbbell Rack” and the “Do you need something to drink?” area. If users access them, they are given rewards. It also features an arcade cabinet that lets users game launch Tekken 6, a store, and a door that leads to part of Namco Bandai’s Game Developer Space, the Namco Theatre. The space was released in the Asian, European, and Japanese versions on October 29, 2009. In addition to the Game Space, there are costumes of a few of the characters from Tekken 6 available for purchase in Home’s shopping complex and the store in the Tekken 6 space. The game also fully supports game launching which is a feature of Home that lets users set up multi-player games in Home and launch directly into the game from Home. Certain trophies in the game unlock Home rewards.

Critical response to Tekken 6 has been mostly positive. The game currently holds a Metascore of 80 on Metacritic.[23] IGN states that “While Tekken is not for everybody, Tekken 6 should appeal to a fairly wide variety of fighting game fans.”, rating it at 8.8.[24] IGN AU awarded the game a score of 9.0/10, and Gamespot awarded it an 8.5/10. Play UK gave Tekken 6 a 94 stating it as “an intense, tactical and utterly brilliant fighting game, perfect for anyone with even a fleeting interest in the genre”.

Tekken 6 has nonetheless garnered some criticism for the excessive load times of the PlayStation 3-version when run without install.[25] and its previously laggy online multiplayer component. The lag in multiplayer, however, has been improved via patch by Namco Bandai Games.[26] The game’s Scenario Campaign mode was subject to criticism as well; IGN regarded the Scenario Campaign as a disappointment, citing bland environments and repetitive enemies.[27]

As of May 2011, Tekken 6 has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide.[28]